Learn to Seek and Destroy

God has provided every Christian with a weapon so powerful and destructive that demons surely panic when they sense one of His children is about to pull it out. Prayer and fasting aid in the training and skill required to effectively fire this weapon. The weapon itself is automatically put in your hands the moment you repent and get born-again. The new Christian usually fires this weapon repeatedly, day after day, and anywhere and everywhere, but sadly, as time goes on, the weapon sees less and less use, until eventually, it goes to the case and becomes a rusty relic. This neglected weapon of mass destruction is your [b]testimony[/b] of how you came to Jesus Christ, and I believe it's the most powerful thing you can tell a person. Its sheer power lies in the fact that it can't be debated, doubted, downsized or deliberated! And if you learn how to use it properly, you will always confound the enemy, startle the hearer, and glorify God greatly.

You don't have to be called to preach to use the weapon of your testimony. You don't even have to be part of a local church ministry. All you need is the genuine conversion experience, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the open door to step through and speak, and God will do the rest. I've provided some pointers I've learned over the years for handling this awesome weapon. Mind you, I've preached hundreds of sermons in church while I was a youth pastor, and yet all of them combined can't measure up to the damage done by just [b]one testimony[/b] given at the right time and right place fitly spoken and anointed of God.

[b]First[/b], you need to understand the incredible power inherent in your testimony and how God has ordained it to inflict great damage in Satan's camp. You need to understand that God has given you this weapon to accomplish much and influence many for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. I've learnt this early on in my walk as I had vowed to God that if He changed my life I would share my testimony with as many people as he put in my path to hear it. Thankfully, God took me at my word and has provided many a oppurtunity to share my testimony with many different people and in diverse places with awesome results. And God wants you to do the same - and He'll give you the occasion, anointing and words if you too will only but ask.

[b]Secondly,[/b] you must go to God in prayer and tell Him you're ready to take advantage of this weapon and use it in dynamic ways as led by the Holy Spirit. The power is not in the testimony itself, but in God who provides the firepower behind it. Without the anointing of God backing it, you'll fall flat on your face and bore your hearer. Your gracious testimony will be reduced to sterile religious rhetoric. Ask God to open doors for you to step through with your testimony, and then ask Him to teach you how to discern those doors. Ask Him for boldness and clear focus of delivery. Begin watching (seeking) for situations to use your fearsome weapon to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ in the most practical and personal way possible.

[b]Thirldy,[/b] you must learn how to steer your conversation into the crosshairs of your testimony. In time, you will learn how to lock on and launch this missle. This is nothing more than sly sleuth work! Jesus told the disciples to be shrewd, and I think this can apply to manipulating a conversation to our advantage. During conversations with the unsaved, I'll try to detect a certain thing I can home in on as launching pad to fire the missile of my testimony (I consider my target to be the heart and conscience of my listener, around which Satan has constructed walls of rock). Once the missile's in the air, God the Holy Ghost will guide it. You may need some launching practice, but in time you'll learn how and when is the right time to shoot the missile. Remember that the whole purpose behind sharing your personal testimony is to provide an occasion for the unsheathing of the gospel sword.

[b]Allow me to provide a practicle firing example:[/b]

Just the other day, God opened a door for me to share my testimony before a group of four people at the funeral home where I work. A woman had died who was the wife of a soldier, and since my testimony has to do with the military (I got saved while in the army), I cunningly steered the conversation toward army things, army life, and especially, army women. [i]I was building a launching pad.[/i] I knew one of the guys listening to me was a womanizer, so I deliberately piqued his interest by steering the topic of conversation to women in the military. I told him that I used to date an army girl who was totally crazy. The topic instantly roused his curiosity, and the missle silo slowly opened. By carefully following the lead of the Spirit, I was soon given a clear launch and was able to tell my entire testimony of how I came to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the end, those four people left the funeral home impacted with a real story about a real person bearing a truthful witness to the real efficacy of the transforming power of the blood of Jesus Christ.

You must learn how to present your testimony in a smooth, streamlined way. Learning to give your testimony is just like anything else. The more you tell your testimony, the more comfortable you'll get in presenting it. You'll begin to condense, intensify, include and exclude certain parts. You'll learn how to build up tension as you make your way to the cross. Don't worry if you're not a good storyteller; the anointing will be there to carry you through and God will have the people transfixed as you pour your heart out to them. You can't fail when you give your testimony if you always remember to focus on Jesus: your testimony must always culminate with Jesus Christ, and if you lift Him up in glory, you'll have the consciences of the people.

Remember to keep yourself unspotted from the things of the world, as once you align yourself with the righteousness of Christ, the world puts you under the microscope. This brings the topic of holiness into play. Mark my words: If you are not separated, if you are not living in holiness and purity and reflecting God's righteousness through your everyday behavior, speech, appearance and demeanor, you will ruin your testimony and destroy any chance with the person who discovers your unchristlike habits. Examine yourself daily. Make no move without God's transforming presence in your life.

After you present your testimony, be sure to follow up with a clear gospel presentation whereby sin, righteousness and judgment with repentance at the core are clearly presented. The Holy Ghost will do the rest. I have found that if you faithfully do these things, and bathe them in prayer, God will accomplish much through your ministry - much more than you could ever hope or dream for.

- Brother Paul West

Thank you for the reminder brother! I think it is so important for people to see a genuine Christian so that it will confront the nonsense that has been portrayed for so long as Christianity.
I had a physical therapist who told me on my first visit that he "used" to be a Christian, and that I would have to work extra hard to get him back. I told him I didn't need to, but GOD might. Over time he and I became close, and whenever I would stop in to visit him(even without an appointment) he would announce to everyone, "hey it's the preacher", or he would tell everyone how I was a Christian which led to some amazing opportunities to share and hear others' doubts etc.
Then one day he called me and asked me to pray for his wife, as it was feared she might have breast cancer. I told him that I would, and would ask others to do the same. Within a couple of months, there was nothing wrong with her!!! Praise GOD!! He became less and less antagonistic to Christ. Unfortunately the clinic closed, and he has moved away, but I know that GOD has shown this man HIs power, and has given him a true witness.
Be careful how you live, you never know who's watching!!

Saints, I found it interesting that Matthew Henry also typifies the word of the believer's testimony as an instrument of war. Indeed, the believer's testimony must be impregnanted with the Eternal Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, with our personal occasion of getting saved as the unleasing of the Sword from the sheath.

"By the word of their testimony, as the great instrument of war, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, by a resolute powerful preaching of the everlasting gospel, which is mighty, through God, to pull down strongholds"

- excerpted from Matthew Henry's commentary on Rev. 12:11b.

Hi Big Bart :-)

Don't let the title throw you. This article isn't about killing jihadists or undermining Jesus the Prince of Peace. It's about the Holy Spirit destroying the chains Satan binds sinners' souls with through the power of a Saint's testimony.

what service do you think that should take the lead in space exploration?

Truthfully, I couldn't care a hill of beans about space exploration programs. I know this sorta upsets you, and we have had this conversation before. This wicked world will burn, and I will personally rejoice to see it happen. The Space Shuttle will melt into a blob of goo, and be destroyed along with all the other elements.

Okay, knowing you, that statement just made you really mad! Now, take that anger and aim it at the devil and determine to be a spiritual wrecking ball on earth while God gives you breath. You can die tomorrow, but the Space Shuttle and the United States Navy will still be here, and trust me, they won't miss you or win souls for God on your behalf.

Okay, Crackerbart, I realize thems fightin' words. I hope this doesn't turn into a round-for-round thing.

You know we'll only wind up hugging in the end. :-?

Little Paulie

Great article!

This neglected weapon of mass destruction is your testimony of how you came to Jesus Christ, and I believe it's the most powerful thing you can tell a person. Its sheer power lies in the fact that it can't be debated, doubted, downsized or deliberated! And if you learn how to use it properly, you will always confound the enemy, startle the hearer, and glorify God greatly.

I would add, simply to clarify, that it's not only about how you came to Christ but also about the joy of new life that has followed. This is what Carter Conlon calls "preaching your own funeral". It's simply declaring your death with Christ and the subsequent new resurrection life in the Spirit, dead to an old way of living and alive to Jesus Christ forevermore. It is powerful because it is not religion, it's life. You don't have to know much theology, you just have to know that I once was blind but now I see. It's not five steps to this or that, it's not following a bunch of rules, it's just dying to self so that Christ might live in you!

As Carter Conlon said, I'll be preaching my funeral until the day I die. :-P

In Christ,

Ron

10 generations from now, there might be a five explorers on a lonely craft, 2,000 light years away from earth

Brother Bart, in all due respect, what does this have to do with the things of God? I dread the thought of thinking 10 generations forward. If we are [i]this[/i] ungodly now, how bad do you think mankind will be then? It seems (and history supports my hypothesis) that the more technologically advanced men are, the more debased and immoral the world becomes. Men want to travel in space at the speed of light? Fools, men can't even drive their cars responsibly. They can't monitor their hearts from adulterous thoughts, yet they want to monitor futuristic lunar colonies.

As far as rejoicing over this world's eminent demise, I am all too happy and can hardly wait. All of creation groans because of wicked man; it is good to look forward to the new heavens and the new earth. The current world we live in is wrecked, grievous, and the enemy of God. It's not our home, just like it wasn't Jesus' home. A true Christian is a child of another Kingdom, a sojourner here, and we are not to venture from the King's Highway into the devil's territories to make treaties with his subjects. We should have no carnal or intellectual investments in this cruel world save the gospel flags we've planted for Jesus Christ. And we should be ready at a moments notice to cast off this funeral pall of flesh and be translated to the house of our Father of Light.

"But we, who now our Lord confess,
And faithful to the end endure,
Shall stand in Jesus’ righteousness,
Stand, as the Rock of ages, sure.

We, while the stars from heaven shall fall,
And mountains are on mountains hurled,
Shall stand unmoved amidst them all,
And smile to see a burning world.

The earth, and all the works therein,
Dissolve, by raging flames destroyed,
While we survey the awful scene,
And mount above the fiery void."

- Charles Wesley

p.s. Thanks for the Arutz Shiva link. Great stuff! How I love the Jews!